CD Projekt RED Says It Won’t Pad Cyberpunk 2077 to Extend Playtime

Cyberpunk 2077‘s nearly hour long demo offered an incredible glimpse into the massive world CD Projekt RED is designing. In the demo, a couple of story missions were shown off. However, it’s not yet clear how the choices made in those missions will factor into the overall experience. Of course, the studio won’t be ready to disclose this information for some time. Yet, the developers are willing to discuss their desire to create “handcrafted experiences.” Apparently, this aim ensures CD Projekt isn’t pushing content in Cyberpunk 2077 to increase the potential hours of play.

During an interview with GamingBolt, Lead Designer Miles Tost was asked whether Cyberpunk 2077 would feature emergent gameplay. In a post on the topic of emergent gameplay mechanics, Medium’s Josh Bycer defined the term as follows: “Emergent Gameplay is the concept of creating a game that allows the player to create solutions or elements that the designer never intended.”

Regarding the mechanic’s inclusion in Cyberpunk 2077, Tost explained it’s “too early to really talk about this. If it makes sense, and if we could pull it off in a way that feels organic and meets our quality standards, then maybe.”

Tost added that regardless of emergent gameplay’s incorporation, players can be sure CD Projekt has no intention of tossing in extra content just to meet a playtime quota. He said,

But we’re certainly not going to be artificially extending the playtime by pushing more content into the game. If it can add to our story-driven experience in a meaningful way, we’re not closed off to anything. Personally, I think our strength lies in creating handcrafted experiences.

This certainly worked well for the team in its past three Witcher titles. Therefore, reason suggests Cyberpunk 2077 will be no different.

Cyberpunk 2077 still has no release date. But you can get your hands on another CD Projekt RED experience soon, when Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales hits PC on October 23, 2018. Thronebreaker arrives on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on December 4th.